Devil
by elizelutus
Summary: Amelia had herself convinced that she had only been hallucinating, there's no way for magic to even exist. Not logically, anyways. The stories that Arthur had told her were only stories, a childhood fantasy of heroics and adventures.
1. Chapter 1

Growing up, Amelia had always been taught that the devil is some red man with horns and black eyes, who was always up to no good and causing people to suffer. She didn't grow up religious by any means, but she did grow up with these kinds of stories. Arthur had spared her no expense in his fairy tales, of monsters who would eat children or mischievous fairies, or children going on some grand adventures. She'd sit on his lap, blue eyes large and wide as she'd listen intently, as if missing a single line could cause the entire world to crash on it's axis and plummet society into hell.

As a little girl, Amelia had loved those stories. She'd always believe in them, and it was no wonder, Arthur was an incredible story teller. He'd easily weave these stories, with a voice that made it sound like he had been there, voice giving way to emotions. But of course, like everyone else, Amelia had to grow up.

She'd stopped believing in those stories before she hit the double digits, but still, she'd listen to Arthur anyways because it's what made him happy. Even though she's always found him grumpy and snobbish, he always made her day. Her guardians would always tell her to not bother him so much, but he'd always wave it off.

Her world is never changing, living vicariously through video games and never getting her homework done much to the chagrin of her teachers. Tonight was different though, and it will forever be on Amelia's mind, even as time goes on.

It happens, two months after she had turned twelve and lay curled up underneath a few blankets, Yellow Labrador curled up at her feet and cat slumbering on the pillow next to her. The September heat filters in through her window and she sighs, rolling onto her side and promptly disturbing both of her pets.

The cat jumps off with a huff, the dull _thud_ sounds louder than what it is and Amelia sighs and rolls over onto her other side side, and watches as the cat exits the room, tail high in the air. She sits up and clicks her tongue to get her dogs attention, and feels his tail hit against her a few times and the dog quickly moves forward and covers her face with kisses. She scratches the dog behind the ears, and strokes his head.

Eventually, she starts to doze off as her muscles relax and mind trails off from an assortment of thoughts. It's when she's deep asleep, she's pulled awake by a cold breeze and quietly curses under her breath, as she sits up and a wave of dizziness rushes through her.

She peeks at the glowing green numbers. Three in the morning. She stumbles to her bedroom window and finds that it's closed, and sighs. Amelia shivers when she feels the icy wind again, it tickles against her back and down her arms, and she suddenly feels _very_ aware of another presence in the room.

"Doggy!" A high pitched breaks the silence, and Amelia stiffens. Watching that horror movie earlier was _not_ the greatest idea she's had. Whomever was in her room giggles and the dog lets out a playful whine and she hears the dull thud of his tail hitting her blue comforter. She draws in a deep breath through her nose and slowly turns around, eyes squeezed shut. "Oh! Hello!"

She cracks an eye open, unsure of what she's expecting. Maybe she was expecting some three headed, horned, skinless creature or an ax murderer, but not a young boy around her age, though he seems to be a whole foot taller with violet eyes and pale skin, with matching, pale blond hair. Two little horns stick out from his head.

"Um, hi?" Too many questions run through her head as she just stands there, awkwardly in her star printed pajamas. "How did you get into my house?"

"Oh, um." The boy frowns. "I don't remember!"

"How do you not remember?!" She almost raises her voice at that, curiosity giving way to annoyance.

"Wait! I think I do actually!" His attention goes away from her dog for a brief moment as he looks around and then points to her closet. "In there!"

"This only happens in movies and books!" Amelia says, struggling to keep her voice down. "So, you're lying."

"I'm not!" The boy pouts, stomping his foot. "Go look! Go look!"

She quirks an eyebrow. "Will I die if I do?"

"I dunno."

"You're weird," she grumbles as she heads over to her closet door, and now she realizes that it's ajar, when she was sure they were shut earlier. Drawing in a deep breath, she opens it wider. She pushes aside her clothes and digs through the pile in search of...something. _Anything_ and only finds a wall and a tan carpet. She pulls out after a moment, feeling a little hotter and turns around to find the boy standing _too_ close to her. "There's nothing here. You're a liar."

"B-but there was! That's how I got here!"

Amelia rolls her eyes and climbs back into her bed. "Yeah, right." She pauses and eyes the horns on his head. "What are those?" She asks, pointing at them.

The boy blinks and reaches up, gingerly reaching up and touching one of them. "Um. I-I don't know-?" There's a little bit of panic in his voice. "These weren't here before!" Now, the boy raises his voice and whole body begins to tremble.

"D-don't speak so loudly!" Amelia hisses, waving her arms and lunging forward and covers the now crying boys mouth. "You'll wake my parents!"

Her dog, in all this entirety had jumped off the bed and exited the room, and Amelia is nearly off her bed again with her blankets pooling on the floor as she struggles to keep the boy from crying too loudly.

The child sniffles a little and says something that's muffled and she removes her hands after a moment and wipes them on her pants with a grimace.

"I-I'm sorry."

Amelia shakes her head and sits back, now feeling sorry for him. "Whatever. What's your name?"

"Um, I-Ivan."

Amelia draws her knees to her chest, "I'm Amelia."

The tears stop almost instantly and Ivan climbs onto the bed with her, "Now that we know each others names, that means we're friends, right?"

_Not really,_ she thinks with a little scowl. She opens her mouth to tell her so, but at his hopeful look, she changes her mind last minute and forces a smile. "Y-yes!" Ivan gives her a tight hug, and a little squeal. She wriggles out of his tight grip. She peeks at her clock. "I-I have to go to bed," she grumbles. "I gotta be up in an hour."

"Okay! I'll be here!" Ivan declares, and it's obvious he can't contain his excitement. "Where'd your doggy go?"

"Out in the hall, I guess." She grumbles as she grabs her blankets and lays down. She lays on her side, facing away from Ivan, who seems content on just sitting there, watching her. As she dozes off again, a freezing wind fills the air, and she hears heavy footsteps and immediately sits up, wide awake now.

"I've been looking for you." The intruder says, with annoyance and she can _feel_ Ivan's tremble and chokes a little as he latches onto her. "Geez, of all places you end up."

"I'm not going with!" The boy shouts.

The man seems to be taken by surprise, green eyes going wide and mouth opening a little bit. Amelia tries to push Ivan away, albeit it's a little weak and she resigns to letting him nearly suffocate her to death with his grip.

The man's gaze lingers on her for a brief moment. "Ivan, you need to come with me now."

"No! I wanna stay here with my friend!"

And he's staring at her again, intently. She squirms, uncomfortable and now trying to get away from Ivan again.

"She's a human," he speaks slowly, gently. "You don't belong in this realm anymore." The man reaches towards Ivan, who slaps his hand away and is content to kick him in the shin.

The man seems to be done with trying to reason with Ivan, because the next thing Amelia knows is that Ivan has been dragged off the bed and towards a wide hole that's black with white specks. There's a loud ringing in her ears as Ivan lets out cries and protests, reaching and grabbing towards a helpless Amelia.

And it disappears, her room only slightly messier than before and the world continues as though nothing had happened. Her alarm lets out a few beeps in a row and she shakily reaches towards it, pressing a button.

She lumbers down the stairs, to find her father already up and letting out the dog. They're a spitting image of each other with the same large blue eyes and straw blonde hair and almost facial structure.

"You look tired," He comments as he glances at her and fills his coffee cup. "What's wrong my little heroine?"

"I feel sick."

It's enough for him to call her school and let them know that she'll be absent. With that, she slinks back up to her room and grabs a comic book. Later, she'll ask Arthur about what had happened. That plan in mind, Amelia decides to get much needed sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

"My professor is a demon from hell," Amelia whines as she throws her backpack to the floor and collapses on the couch as Mathew shoots her a sympathetic look from his spot at the table. "He's always grumpy and yells and he _smells_ like an old person!"

Mathew dips his spoon in the bowl of cereal. "That's because he's eighty, Amelia."

Amelia huffs. "He's still a demon from hell."

"Speaking of old people, have you visited Arthur recently?"

"No. I've been too busy. Why? Is he getting worse?"

The _clink_ of spoon hitting bowl comes first, and Mathew takes too long to even answer. "Yeah." He finally says, after a moment. "Doctors are saying that he doesn't have much time left." Amelia feels her heart sink. It's been a few months since she last saw him. "He asks about you a lot, though."

Amelia feels her heart sink, a knot forming in her stomach at the thought of seeing Arthur in his state. When she was little, he was a god in her eyes. It hurts to see him so frail and weak. She swallows and clears her throat. "He barely remembers me, though."

"Just go and see him." Mathew clicks the spoon against the bowl now. "It won't kill you."

"I'm aware," Amelia mumbles. "I will tomorrow." She doesn't really know when Arthur had started to get sick, or when he had gotten to be so old. It felt like it happened too fast, one day, he was fine and all of the sudden, he couldn't remember his own name or recognize her face. It had started with memory loss, and then, he had started to get sick and started to shake a lot. For Amelia, that's much scarier than ghosts and zombies.

"You keep saying that."

"Shut up, Mathew."

The chair scrapes against the linoleum, and she hears the floor creak as he walks and the sound of rushing water.

"It sucks," He finally speaks, quietly.

Amelia rolls over onto her side and goes to sleep. When she wakes up, it's almost midnight and through her sleepy haze, it dawns on her that she has a lot of homework she needs to get done. She lets out a groan, wondering why the world is against her.

She can hear voices coming from down the hall, in Mathews room and debates on kicking the bedroom door just to piss of Mathews boyfriend. They _try_ to get along for Mathew's sake, but it never really works. He makes a disparaging comment, she reacts. They argue. It sometimes even escalates, but that's on a rare occasion.

With a heavy sigh, Amelia forces herself off the couch and goes to retrieve her backpack and grabs a beer from the fridge and lugs herself to her room, pausing in front of Mathews door to give it a sharp kick.

"Fuck off, Amelia!"

She lets out a laugh at the response. "Make me!" She can almost picture Mathew's annoyed expression, and she hears a soft thud of something being thrown against the door and she laughs again.

"Stop acting like children you two,"

Amelia snorts and slips into her room, closing and locking the door. Much like earlier, she throws her backpack onto her bed and plops down in her desk chair, booting up her laptop. Checking her school's website and online assignments, she gets to work.

It isn't until after three in the morning, and she finishes the last of her assignments, does she become aware of someone watching her from the shadows. A little buzzed from drinking quite a few beers, and a little more paranoid, Amelia gets up and looks around. Her bedroom is empty, save for a few clothes strewn about and some band posters.

She feels like she's a child again, looking under her bed for monsters and in her closet as well. Finding that she is, in fact, entirely alone, Amelia sighs. She tries to reason that she's tired, and decides to go to bed.

–

The next day just slowly drifts by, physics class is at eight, and an astronomy class in the afternoon. After her last class, she tries to catch Mathew and asks if he would like to go visit Arthur with her. It's as if she takes him by surprise for asking that question, and he smiles kindly. They hold hands as they walk to her car, and she feels as if she's back in high school, when they had dated.

Supportive, quiet Mathew with outgoing, loud Amelia who is more selfish than selfless. She isn't sure why they broke up, maybe it was her erratic and wild personality that was mismatched with his own introversion. Now that she thinks about it, she did really withdraw after Arthur got really sick and that put a wedge in their relationship.

They're better off as friends, she knows but some days, she's more jealous of his boyfriend.

Windows rolled down, music cranked, Amelia speeds when she can and she laughs as Mathew yells at her to slow down. It takes an hour to get to the nursing home that Arthur is living in, it's stationed just outside the city, so the elderly can get peace and quiet, and enjoy beautiful scenery as well. When she parks, and turns off the engine, Mathew stumbles out of the car, blond hair a mess and his face pale.

"Oh come off it, we didn't die."

"You are _crazy!" _He yells. "I'm driving on the way home."

Amelia pouts. "You had fun."

"I think I died a little."

"Good thing there's a graveyard nearby!"

Mathew sighs and shakes his head, grabbing her hand again. Arthur is in the community room, absorbed in a book and Amelia thinks he looks more older than she remembered. His white hair leaves no traces of the straw blond that had once been there, and even his godawful, thick eyebrows are purely gray and he's more hunched than before.

"Hi, Artie!" She forces her cheerful tone and bright smile.

Arthur looks up, a perplexed look on his face as he tries to recollect who she is. Amelia forgot that Arthur was having memory problems, in fact, it was the first thing to go. He can't place faces, and can barely remember names.

"Ahh, hello, Miss...?"

"Amelia? Amelia Jones." She swallows a little bit and she can almost hear the wheels turning in Arthur's head as he works to remember that name.

"Oh. Yes," he says after a moment. "You've grown."

She shares a look with Mathew. "Um, yes. How have you been?"

"Well, everything aches, but that goes with being old." He shifts a little and crinkles his nose. "Digestive problems too."

"Eww, I don't wanna know about that." Amelia pulls up a chair as Mathew remains standing.

"Where is your boyfriend, Mathew?"

"He had a make up test to take," Mathew replies. Arthur nods in understanding. "I'll try to bring him by again tomorrow."

"I see. Well, I'll be sure to have tea made," Arthur pauses. "Amelia, I do not understand why you don't like his boyfriend." Amelia just shrugs.

"Our personalities don't match," she mumbles.

They talk about other things, school work and classes. Amelia says that she's passing most of her classes, but she's struggling in one of her math classes because it's hard for her to focus, and that she's a cheerleader for their sports teams. Mathew is joining hockey this winter, and Arthur doesn't say much about his time in the nursing home. He does lament about how much he misses England, and her beauty.

There's a moment where Amelia suddenly feels like she's a child again, as Arthur manages to recount some of his times as a child and she feels like she's being let in on this side of him she never knew before. Never once had he let her in on his life, and it's so strange.

The nurse comes by eventually, and informs them that it's almost dinner and they need to leave soon. Mathew grabs Amelia's keys before she can and heads out the door. However, Amelia hesitates as she stands there, Arthur looks just so weak and tired.

"I'm sorry, Amelia," Arthur says, out of nowhere.

"What for?" Her father's bomber jacket feels _hot_, and she curses her idea to wear it even though this morning was quiet cold for a fall morning and her classrooms are usually very cold. "It's not like you can help it-"

"For getting you involved in all of this. It was never my intention."

"What?"

"Mr. Kirkland, dinners ready." Amelia suddenly feels like she's in some horror movie, and the sudden interruption didn't help. She sighs.

"I'll um, try to stop by tomorrow."

"Ah, yes, of course. Have a good evening, Amelia."

–

The flow of time seemed to stop briefly, and at first, it goes unnoticed by Lukas as he sits at his table, silently sipping coffee as Egill sits, slumped forward with a small scowl on his face. The newspaper crinkles as he adjusts it so it sits up straighter.

"I'm bored." The seventeen year old whines.

"You can clean your room," His elder brother replies, not even looking up or over. There's a following silence and finally, he does look over and he feels a strike through his heart as though it had stopped. The second ticks by way to long, and the air is colder. He knows those signs are not good signs, and he briefly debates on messing with the younger while he still has the chance. Time moves again, and he lurches forward, spilling his coffee.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," Lukas mumbles as he quickly gets up and sets the cup in the sink and grabs a rag. He wipes up the mess, and crumples up the newspaper and tosses it away. "Oh, that's right. The annoying one is coming to visit today."

Egill stands up, "I...am going to go to Li's, I think. Good luck with Abel," Abel is their uncle, he is loud and quite energetic, something that the brothers can't seem to handle. He's exhausting, and Egill finds every reason he can to avoid him and tends to abandon his elder brother.

"Hold up. You go clean your room," In translation this means that Egill is _not_ abandoning his elder brother today, no matter how hard he tries.

"It's not that messy."

The stare that Lukas gives him is enough for him to flee from the kitchen. It's only an hour after Egill comes down from his bedroom when Lukas is kicked back on the couch, a book in hand and a fresh cup of coffee sitting on the coffee table. Somehow, Lukas convinces Egill to vacuum the living room and straighten things up, and that only got mild whining in return.

It isn't until close to noon when there's a loud pounding on the door.

"What time is Abel coming?" Egill asks as he eyes the cup of coffee that Lukas has. "Also, you have an addiction."

"I'm making up for the spilled coffee earlier this morning," Lukas says, a little bit too defensively. "And I believe a little later this afternoon," His voice barely carries as he exits the living room, and heads to the front door and answers it. "Oh. Afternoon, Mihai."

Mihai doesn't even wait to be invited inside as he steps in, "You've been feeling it, right?"

"Most people say hi in greeting," The scowl Mihai gives him makes Lukas sigh. "_Yes_, all morning. Why?"

"Something's wrong, I _think_."

"If you think something is wrong, why not contact Raj? He's the all-seer and a high angel, he'd know if something is off."

"Not at this rate," Mihai grumbles. "I think a seal has been open."

"They've been closed for ten years," Lukas says, frowning. "We'd know if they've been opened. Besides, outside of our small circle, who would be able to break the seals? Or even know they exist?"

"I'm not worried about anyone outside of us knowing," Mihai chews his lower lip as the pair walk into the living room and he sits down in one of the arm chairs, leaning forward. Egill takes this time to dart out of the house before Lukas even notices. "It's someone inside the seal."

"We got rid of the most powerful one, and 'sides, it's part of their deal not to do anything." Lukas taps the coffee table that sits between them for a brief moment, as if thinking. "D'ya think Arthur might have something to do with it?"

Mihai shakes his head, "Doubtful. Besides, he's y'know, dying. After choosing mortality,"

"Pity," There no chance in octave or as if Lukas even felt sad, just monotonous. "Where is he living now?"

"Uh," There's a pause, a slight hesitation. "California, I think? He moved there like, a long time ago. After his wife and their child died," Arthur had been their mentor in learning how to harness magic and the problems that come with it. When Lukas discovered he could manipulate the weather around him, as well as tap into another side of his sight where he could _see_ mythical creatures, he was around ten. At first, it had startled him, made him cry but after awhile, he'd gotten used to it.

Of course, around puberty, like hormones, the magic became uncontrollable. What had been innocent level making snowflakes fall and conversing with the nicer fae, turned into power that could make Odin jealous, but on a more dangerous people may or may not have gotten hurt because of it. At the time, it was his best kept secret, aside from Egill, who'd he had told straight away (and was immediately told he was lying and crazy).

Arthur had found him one day, while visiting their little village somewhere deep north in Norway. The fifteen year old had been conversing with a cat about something when he'd been approached. There was a falter in his Norwegian, a break and a stutter but Arthur had gotten the point across. He knew what Lukas was going through, and offered him a safe place back in the mountains of England.

Of course, normal parents would say no to a stranger who wanted to take their kid. And that's what had happened. Arthur had been accepting of it, even polite. He lived up the English Gentleman stereotype, but left his address with Lukas just in case he ever needed help.

Lukas ran off after his magic had gotten violently out of control, and somehow ended up on a ship to the coast of the United Kingdom. It had taken him a months time to even arrive at Arthur's doorstep, and by then he was dirty, starving and exhausted. There, he had met the shy and elusive Mihai, who had only watched from the shadows and high up in trees.

Not that Lukas had cared, all he wanted to was to control his ability so he doesn't hurt anyone else again and socializing wasn't his priority. There, he'd slowly grown up, finding that the aging process after a certain point slowed considerably and even stopped after a certain point. Arthur had explained something about it that's still lost on him, and he's asked Mihai multiple times, only to get a little grin and a wink in response.

When they had started talking was when Lukas caught Mihai up before Arthur, and in the kitchens, where he had been scurrying about and making breakfast. All that he was told is that he cannot take another day of Arthur's terrible cooking. They had bonded over that, and yet, Mihai's past remained shrouded in mystery, and now that Lukas thinks about it, he still really knows nothing about the Romanian.

Then again, Mihai doesn't know anything about Lukas either. They both seemed content that way.

Lukas clicks his tongue. "Think we should go visit him?"

"We owe him that at least," Mihai slouches a little. "I may just be paranoid,"

"Demons are the monsters we have to be most wary of," Is all Lukas says. Mihai doesn't know that's validation or not, and decides not to question it.

"_If_ we do go, I don't know where he's living at exactly."

"I'll use my friend to find out," Lukas says, after a moment. "For now, I have to get ready for Abel's visit." Whether or not Abel is genuinely Lukas' uncle is up for debate, but he had been around since Lukas was young and _what_ Abel is exactly is a whole other topic and mystery. Along with Egill, whom avoids questions as to how he's still around and seventeen, even _after_ fifty or so years.

A magic users life flows differently than a humans, for the unlucky ones, aging stops and for the luckier ones, they just age much, _much_ slower. There is a certain point where they can choose whether or not they want to become mortal, but the whole ordeal that comes with it is _painful_, and is considered a fate worse than death.

And as far as Lukas knows, Egill has no talent in the magic area.

There's a quiet pause between the two, and now that Lukas actually looks at Mihai, the poor man looks exhausted with dark circles under his eyes and the whole fact, he's now struggling to even stay awake.

"Did you sleep at all?" Mihai yawns and shakes his head. For as long as Lukas had known Mihai, the boy was an insomniac, and functioned a million times better at night than he did during day. Aside from short naps, Lukas doesn't even think the Romanian ever really sleeps. Lukas stands up. "The guest bedroom is open for use until Abel gets here, or my room if you want, you're welcome to use them."

However, Mihai was already fast asleep and Lukas rolls his eyes. No point in waking him.

It wasn't a few hours until _after _Abel had arrived when Lukas had gone to check on some things in his study, did he realize just how bad things are. Three, small creatures lay on his desk, their skin gray and the wings that once shimmered now torn or still. At first, it takes Lukas by surprise, his usually impassive expression changed to wide eyes and a slack jaw.

There's no need for discussion when he presents the three small corpses to Mihai, who had woken up just an hour prior.

The decision was final, they would leave in three days time.


End file.
